Employability is the word of the hour

The Zug Chamber of Commerce is promoting re-entry to the labour market and the employability of the over-40s with a webinar.

Lifelong learning – exploiting potentials: as part of its "Change as Opportunity" impulse programme, the Zug Chamber of Commerce invited interested parties to a webinar on this topic. It turned out that career checks for professionals or ‘Returnship’ programs for the re-entry of women into the labour market can benefit both the employee and the company.

Employability (Arbeitsmarktfähigkeit) is the goal of the "Age has potential" campaign, which was launched four years ago by the Canton of Zug. "In order to maintain their employability, we found that measures are needed to support older people," said Urs Brütsch, project manager of the Cantonal Office for Vocational Guidance (BIZ: Amt für Berufsberatung). His working group has developed a career check for professionals over 40, people who, according to Urs Brütsch, "have worked contentedly in their profession after their apprenticeship without further training".

Practicality tested by V-Zug
After initial tests at the BIZ, the career check was tested for practicality thanks to a cooperation with the V-Zug company. "Employability is a part of the HR strategy and a focus area in the health management of V-Zug," emphasised its head, Fabian Britschgi. He gave the virtual audience an insight into the course of the pilot project that V-Zug has carried out at various locations with professionals, for example service technicians or dispatchers. They wrote a CV, completed an online questionnaire and were invited to a consultation with a specialist from the BIZ. The procedure and the documents were then analysed by the University of Bern in January 2020. Their conclusion: "The career check is suitable for determining employability."

Photo 1: The webinar of the Zug Chamber of Commerce.
Photo 2: The Returnship programme of Credit Suisse

The Zug career check has now been included in a comprehensive package that will be rolled out in eleven cantons in January 2021. This will be used to carry out the federally funded, free, over-40 career guidance, ViaMia. Fabian Brütsch expects it to be applied throughout Switzerland from the beginning of 2022.

Labour market re-entry for men and women over 40
"Re-entry women have a great potential for work that is not being exploited at the moment." Anina Hille, lecturer at the IFZ of Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, presented a project that will make it easier for women – and men – to re-enter the labour market after a career break. "CRN – Companies and Returnship Network" is the name of the association that provides companies with access to re-entry persons and provides them with a network platform. This is the sixth time that Credit Suisse has implemented the Real Returns ‘Returnship programme’ – and it has been very successful, as the project manager Rebecca Schraner noted. "From 2015 to 2019, 108 women and 12 men took part, and 86% of them obtained an employment contract, and 67% still work for CS."

25 people have completed the four-part programme In the current year. Real Return gives the company access to a huge talent pool," says Rebecca Schraner, "The workers receive training and a mentoring program, and encounter a work environment that matches their skills." This was confirmed by the lawyer Karin Tandeter, who completed the re-entry program at Credit Suisse after a five-year family break.

For the Zug Chamber of Commerce: Therese Marty